My daughter is 10 and in the 4th grade. She is having trouble with fractions of all kinds. How can I help?

Answer 1

The pizza and measuring cup ideas are a good way to go.

Does she understand money? Four quarters to a dollar, ten dimes, 20 nickels? That's how I first grasped fractions. Show her the four quarters that make one dollar. Explain that's why they are called quarters, a quarter is one fourth. You can also help her to make the connection between fractions and decimals by having her write out one quarter ($0.25) and telling that is also the same as one fourth, two quarters or fifty cents ($0.50) is half a dollar the same as 1/2 of 1. You get the idea. Once she has a good grip on the quarters move on to dimes (tenths) and then nickels (twentieths).

Hope this helps and good luck! It's good to know that parents care about their kids' education.

Answer 2

I'm very glad to see the other answers about getting her in the kitchen...I think that using the tools & measurements in a real-life scenario is ideal.

My other recommendation is to incorporate fractions into basically all of the conversations you have with her. If you're shopping, talk about what fraction of the loaf of bread each sandwich will take (two slices out of 14 is 2/14 or 1/7 for example). If you she earns 50 cents doing chores, talk about what fraction of a dollar she has earned. When you pull up in your driveway, have her tell you what fraction of the cars on your street are white.

I struggled with them too...it was understanding how they fit into all the parts of my real life that helped me to really "get" it.

Answer 3

take a whole object preferably an apple and say it represents.i.e .,1. next cut it into two and ask her how she will represent the half piece. then again cut the half into two and ask similarly.This is to teach proper fractions.Then teach improper fractions by taking 10 objects and divide it among 5. the answer is 2. if 11 objects are there, she will get one extra which is the remainder.You have to tell her abount the numerator and denominator every time so that she understands that it is a way of expressing the quantity.

Answer 4

I had her same problem when I was her age! I could not figure out fractions for the life of me!

What really helped me however was when my mom sat me down and tried to explain it in ways that I understood. While the old pizza trick is very cliche, it actually worked! My mom and I made our own pizzas and then we practiced cutting them in to halves and fourths and thirds and such.

It was better than just having her explain them because I was able to see how it worked instead of just trying to imagine it and it was easier for me to learn by doing a hands on project! It also comes in handy when you are learning to add and subtract fractions because you can take the pieces away and actually see what you have right in front of you!

Good luck!

Answer 5

My dad helped me with fractions when I was a kid.
Most of the questions read like what percentage does 1/4 represent? 1 divided by 4 = 25% and 1/8 = 12.5%

Other stuff was like 1 1/2
- 1/4
_______

Convert to 1.50
.25
______________
1.25% or 1 1/4

It's pretty easy when you think about it.

Hope she does well!!!

Answer 6

The best introduction to fractions is in the kitchen. Let her measure things, using measuring spoons and measuring cups. She will learn fractions and may learn to be a good cook.

Answer 7

There are great websites out there to help. Also, would it be possible to ask her teacher to help her? Many teachers would eagerly help students who ask for help. Also, use food, like M&M's to show fractions.